Ante Ćorić – A Name to Remember

After the multi-million euro transfers of teenage stars Mateo Kovačić to Inter Milan, Tin Jedvaj to Roma and recently Alen Halilović to Barcelona, Croatian football champions Dinamo Zagreb may not have to wait long for another multi-million euro bank transfer to come through….

Ante Ćorić (16) has just returned from England with the successful Croatia U18 squad which beat their English counterparts on their home soil twice, and many are tipping the former Red Bull Salzburg teen to become the next big thing out of the famous Zagreb club.

“Ćorić is a class player. He is a year younger, but extremely potent, technically perfect. He really impressed me,” Croatia’s U18 boss Zoran Vulić said after the Newcastle double-header which Croatia won 2-1 on both occasions.

Ćorić, who spent four years playing in Austria after moving from Zagreb as a 12-year-old, is now part of the Dinamo Youth Academy set up, the same academy which harnessed stars such as Barcelona-bound Halilović.  Recently the attacking midfielder was named player of the tournament at the U16 Euro Cup in Germany, a tournament in which Ćorić’s Dinamo Zagreb side beat Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich on the way to the title.

Dinamo Zagreb’s former astute Youth Academy Director Romeo Jozak , who was chased by Arsenal and is now Director with the Croatian Football Federation, believes Ćorić has the goods and is an enormous talent for both his club and for the Croatian national team in the future.

Ante with the winning Dinamo Zagreb Youth side in Germany

Ćorić is no doubt on the radar of many top clubs in Europe, after earlier attracting interest from Chelsea, Arsenal and Roma, but time will tell if he will follow in the footsteps of Kovačić and Halilović. With one of Croatia’s brightest young tennis players also sporting the surname Ćorić, Croatian sports fans could be hearing a lot more of the name in the near future.

Ante as a 12-year-old